All Features articles – Page 379
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Features
Fund gets budgetary green light from EU
For the Irish government, the introduction of such a significant reserve fund into the country’s balance sheet posed not only the question of domestic support, but also that of adherence to the EU Growth and Stability Pact – the 1997 requirement that all member states bring their budgets into balance ...
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Features
Manager selection: case studies
Daiwa SB Investments e125m Japanese equities mandate Where did you originally learn about the National Pensions Reserve Fund mandate? Our company paid particularly close attention to the changes in Irish government legislation. In addition to following legislation proceedings, we received official notification of the tender process through the web-based IPE-Quest ...
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Features
New challenges for second pillar in Greece
Policy makers involved within the social security and benefits context in Greece are faced with major new challenges since the beginning of 2002. For a number of years, discussions on the reform of the domestic social protection system was a hot issue on the political agenda, leading to strong reactions ...
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Features
Chancellor stamps on special purpose vehicles
The UK’s chancellor, Gordon Brown dealt out a major blow to the UK property market in his Budget. As a result, this month will be a bumper one for transactions as investors work to conclude deals before the Finance Bill gains Royal Assent (expected to be mid to late July) ...
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Features
How the old order is changing
Consider these two quotes: “After five years of underperformance the UK’s ‘big five’ fund managers are losing pension business to their specialist rivals”, and “Merrill Lynch, Schroders, and Gartmore are among a group of the world’s best-known fund managers who suffered a dramatic fall in their UK pensions business last ...
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Features
Commission of seven prudent persons
For his vision of the state pension fund to become reality, it was essential for Irish finance minister Charlie McCreevy to find the right structure to implement and manage such an important pool of assets. The arrangements for the governance and management of the fund were modelled on the successful ...
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Features
The commissioners
Donal Geaney is chairman and chief executive of drug delivery and biopharmaceutical firm, Elan Corporation, Ireland’s largest public company. Geaney joined Elan in 1987 as executive vice president, corporate planning before being elected to the board of directors in 1992 and later assuming the positions of president and chief operating ...
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Features
A daunting experience: NTMA’s investment management
That the NTMA was in clear control of the type of managers it wanted for the fund and the type of contract it was seeking to enter into was clear from the off in this huge RFP. One pertinent example came in the second stage of the appraisal, when the ...
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Features
Hybrids offer extra dimension
Slumping investment returns in the major stock markets, an increase in longevity and the introduction of new accounting standards, among other factors, have left many pension funds in deficit. Conversely, the downturn in the global economy has forced organisations to be more cost-aware. As a result, many companies are currently ...
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Features
Restating doctrine of matching
Last year the £2.3bn (e3.5bn) Boots pension fund rocked the UK pensions world by putting “every last penny” into a long bond portfolio, as John Ralfe, head of corporate finance at the high street chemist chain and the man responsible for much of the thinking behind the strategy, puts it. ...
